Jeopardy! No Longer Accepting Canadian Contestants, Eh?

Dry those tears with some maple leaves and blow your nose with a Tim Hortons doughnut: Jeopardy! has had to stop accepting applications from Canadian contestants, but the show is working feverishly to fix this. According to The National Post’s Joseph Brean, a recent law entitled the Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation has allegedly thrown a fistful of poutine into the workings of Jeopardy!’s online registration for our brothers and sisters up North.

According to a Jeopardy! spokesperson, “As international laws governing how information is shared over the internet are ever-changing and complex, we are currently investigating how we can accept registrations from potential Canadian contestants. The Jeopardy! Adult, Teen, and College tests have already taken place this year, and we are making every effort to find a solution before the next round of testing is available.” It’s not immediately clear why the law, which concerns deceptive or unsolicited online information-seeking, would affect willing participants. Alex Trebek, himself a Canadian, points out that in the meantime, there are at least three Canadians in upcoming unaired episodes, which gives the show some breathing room before Trebek is obligated by the bonds of country and brethren to wild out and destroy the set with two spinning hockey sticks.